At the Edge. The Experience of Emptiness from the Perspective of Depth Psychology

A frequently encountered experience for both the analyst and the analysand is the experience of emptiness. It is discussed at various stages of therapy and pertains to experiences that have different origins. Sometimes the experience of emptiness is related to a relatively limited aspect of the psyche, but in other cases, emptiness seems much more global and threatens to consume the entire personality. In this case, the entire individual psyche appears to be under threat of disappearing due to the possibility of dissolving into non-existence. The experience of emptiness may result from an early inability of external objects to satisfy the needs of the developing Ego, leading to the primitive terrors described by Winnicott, or it may result from the self seeming to be under threat of destruction, which may be more closely related to the rupture of the Ego-I axis. In the first case, it refers to the fear of disintegration, while in the second case, it refers to the experience of a living dead person, as if the individual is cut off from their source of life. Moreover, the intrusion of emptiness into the conscious experience of many of us implies that its emergence is not only a result of severe trauma but also a necessary aspect of the individuation process. Drawing on the works of Jung and post-Jungians, as well as psychoanalytic thinkers such as Bion, Winnicott, and Bick, along with poetry, mythology, and art, and illustrating these ideas with dreams and other material drawn from practice, the author attempts to illuminate some of the compartments of this vast space.